


Caged Freedom

by Lexus (Beautiful_Ruin)



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/F, Prison AU, see notes for trigger warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:08:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22486843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beautiful_Ruin/pseuds/Lexus
Summary: Everyone could be bought. If you had the right offer,everyone. And in a city where more cops were dirty than not, everyone could be bought a little easier. That was how Annika Zharkova, wife of the notorious Nikolai Zharkov, found herself in a posh single cell in upstate New York instead of the broken-down communal wreckage of a Belarusian prison.ORThe prison AU that should obviously already exist but somehow does not...(Trigger Warnings in notes)
Relationships: Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine
Comments: 37
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **TW: While I do not write non-con, nor will I likely ever, this story does deal with the reality of non-consensual sex in a marriage setting. There will be nothing graphic and the references will be vague, but the fact is that Annika's husband is an alcoholic mob boss and I wouldn't be doing her character any justice by glossing over the issues. So please be warned that there will be some aftermath of physical abuse and non-consensual sex that the characters will have to deal with during the course of this story.**

Everyone could be bought. If you had the right offer, _everyone_. And in a city where more cops were dirty than not, everyone could be bought a little easier. That was how Annika Zharkova, wife of the notorious Nikolai Zharkov, found herself in a posh single cell in upstate New York instead of the broken-down communal wreckage of a Belarusian prison.

“How could you marry that snake?” someone had once asked her – a journalist, maybe? She’d forgotten by now where the question came from, but the answer… she hadn’t been given a choice. Her parents had essentially sold her to him to pay off their debts when she was six years old. She had been put to work cleaning at first, and then when she was old enough, maybe twelve, he’d taught her how to fight, how to shoot, and put her in charge of a few shakedowns, which they both found she had a knack for.

When she turned twenty, he married her and took her to bed, and it was just another duty as far as she was concerned. She’d lived a comfortable life, never wanting for any material things – in fact, she could literally have whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it, except her freedom – and she had been reasonably content. Until he’d started drinking to excess one summer when business was bad and never got rid of the habit.

Before that summer, she’d almost felt like his equal. And after… well, that feeling was gone. Instead of being the one he turned to, she’d been the one he turned on, taking out all his frustration, his drunken rage on her mind and body. When she couldn’t stand another day, another night, another trip through a closed window or being held face down on the bed, she’d gotten out the only way she could. The anonymous tip that had gotten her arrested had come from her.

Nikolai hadn’t known she’d basically turned herself in to get away from him so he’d pulled strings to get her where she was now. She supposed that in his twisted mind, no one should hurt her but him. Or maybe he didn’t see it as hurting. Either way, she was done.

Could she have just killed him to get out? Sure. But she wouldn’t have gotten very far. When one boss goes down, another accumulates his assets, and in the world of organized crime, Annika wasn’t a person, she was an asset. She’d rather be in prison for the rest of her life than be passed from boss to boss, each one probably worse than the last.

She’d been here five years now and was happier for it. She thanked her lucky stars that Nikolai only visited once a year. He always promised to come more often and she always made it seem like she wanted him to because she knew he never would. Travel across the world every few months and leave business in the hands of the underboss? Not likely. She’d have preferred him not to come at all, obviously, but his showing his face every so often did have its perks. Prisoners and guards alike scrambled to make sure she was well taken care of, that she didn’t want for anything in prison any more than she had on the outside. Within limits, of course. She couldn’t have weapons or a phone or her horses… but she did get to keep her cat. And she had her own television.

Pulled out of her reverie by a guard appearing at her cell door, she raised an eyebrow and set down Solnyshko with a pet to his head. “Yes?”

“You have some visitors.”

“Visitors, plural?” She stood from the bed. “Is it my husband?”

“No, it’s a man and a woman, Magnus and Erin Hansen?”

Annika’s blood ran cold and she sat back down. “What? Why? Why would they come here?”

“Is there a problem, Mrs. Zharkova? Should I tell them you don’t want to see them?”

“They’re my parents,” she said softly, unable to believe they would have the nerve to show up after all this time and think she’d want to see them.

“The gamblers?” the guard asked, eyes going a little wide. “The ones who—”

“Yes,” Annika interrupted, not wanting to hear out loud what they’d done. She lived it every day; she didn’t need anyone’s pity. Her shock began turning to anger and she closed her hands into fists, slowly rising from the bed again and putting Solnyshko in his little house so he wouldn’t escape while she was gone. “Be a good boy,” she crooned at him, then straightened and left her cell with the guard, her steps measured and stiff. This really should not be happening.

On the way to the visiting area she saw an unfamiliar face; one that made her heart quicken, and she stopped walking, turning to Georgia. “Who is that?” she asked quietly, nodding toward the woman.

“Kathryn Janeway,” Georgia replied. “Why do you ask? You don’t typically ask about anyone.”

Annika bristled. “I didn’t recognize her. That’s all.” She resumed walking.

Georgia had seen the reaction, and it was about damn time. She liked Mrs. Zharkova. The woman had always been pleasant to her, and honestly she thought it must be lonely having your own cell like that, even though the blonde seemed to prefer solitude. “Do you want to know more?”

Annika did. “No,” she said curtly, rounding the corner to visitation, her anger escalating when she saw the bastards sitting there waiting for her to show up. Until that moment, it could have been anyone. It could have been some random couple pretending to be her parents, trying to get leverage on Nikolai. It could have been old friends that wanted a quick way to see her. But it was really them, and it made her sick.

She tried to stay calm, but when they stood up to greet her, she lost her cool for the first time in five years and grabbed her father by the collar, slamming him into the nearest wall. “How dare you show your faces here!” she screamed, about to go for her mother when Georgia and Marcos rushed her and each grabbed an arm, holding her back.

Her parents stood speechless, eyes wide, her father rubbing the back of his head where she’d knocked it into the concrete.

She tried to break the hold but they knew what they were doing and effectively kept her several feet away from the Hansens. “Do you see the two empty teardrops?” she shouted. “Those are waiting for _you_ motherfuckers! As soon as I’m back on the street you’re both fucking dead! I’ll slit your throats in your sleep and you’ll never see me coming,” she said more quietly, the threat one hundred percent sincere. “Get out and don’t come back.”

They seemed rendered immobile by her reaction to them and she screamed again.

“I said get the fuck out and don’t come back!”

She tried to lunge for them again but this time Georgia and Marcos backed her away further and finally turned to escort her out of visitation, every single person in the room staring after them.

As soon as the door was locked behind them and she wouldn’t have access, they released her. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Zharkova,” Marcos said placatingly, “but we had no choice.”

Annika stood there fuming, then started pacing back and forth. “It’s not you I’m angry at,” she growled, moving around the corridor like a caged tiger. “Take me back to my cell, please.”

“Of course,” Georgia said, nodding to Marcos that she could take it from there. “Do you want some water?”

She ran her fingers through her hair, starting the walk back to her cell with Georgia. “I’d prefer some chamomile tea,” she answered after a minute.

“We can stop in the kitchen and I’ll make you some.”

Annika knew that meant the staff kitchen where she’d get the good tea, and despite the twinge of guilt at getting special treatment, she knew she wasn’t going to give it up. “I can make my own tea, you know,” she said, finally starting to relax.

“I know,” Georgia nodded, getting out her keys to open up the kitchen and letting them in. She turned on the light and moved to the stove to pick up the teapot. “But you just had an upsetting experience, so have a seat and try to breathe, and I’ll make the tea.”

Well she wasn’t going to argue with that. She slid into a chair and folded her arms on the table, resting her forehead on them. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“I know you usually prefer to be alone, but if you ever feel like talking, I’m here 40 hours a week,” Georgia said as she put water on to boil.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I know everyone is only nice to me because they’re afraid of my husband.”

“Most people, maybe. But that’s not why I like you.”

“Is it my charming personality, then?” Annika deadpanned without lifting her head.

“Definitely not,” Georgia teased her. “But it might be your perseverance and strength and those teardrops on your face.”

“Oh, you like me because I murdered seven people?”

“Someday it’ll be nine,” Georgia said as she peered into the teapot to check on the status of the water, which had not changed in the thirty seconds since she’d turned on the stove. “Maybe I should start calling you Seven of Nine.”

“It’s better than calling me Mrs. Zharkova. You could at least tone it down to Annika.”

“And have the warden fire me? No thank you.”

“The warden has instructed the officers to call me Mrs. Zharkova? That’s why they do it?”

“It’s in the employee handbook.”

“Bullshit it’s in the employee handbook,” Annika lifted up her head at that.

“It literally is,” Georgia said, turning away from the stove to make the water boil faster. She started looking for a suitable mug and raiding the tea stash for some chamomile. “I’ll show you a copy tomorrow.”

“If he was going to insist on my being called something, shouldn’t it be something that I prefer?”

“I think the directive may have come from your husband,” Georgia said with a cringe.

Annika’s lips forced into a tight line at that and she stopped talking, laying her forehead back on her arms.

“Sorry.”

Annika didn’t respond.

“Don’t kill the messenger?”

“Can there just be one thing he doesn’t control?” she finally said, hands clenching into fists. “Take me back to my cell, please. Forget the tea.”

***

Annika looked up sharply when someone actually sat down across from her at breakfast the next morning. She almost dropped her coffee when she saw who it was – the woman she’d seen yesterday on her way to visitation. Kathryn Janeway. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Dancing the hula, what’s it look like?” Kathryn replied, unimpressed with the attitude. “Is the entire table yours?”

Annika’s jaw wanted to drop but she wouldn’t let it. “Perhaps you are unaware of who my husband is?”

“Why would I give a rat’s ass who your husband is? At least in relation to my choice of breakfast seating.”

“Will it still be irrelevant when he erases your entire family from existence with a snap of his fingers?”

“He wouldn’t have to snap very hard, I’m afraid. I have no family.”

“Everyone has family.”

“Not when they’re all dead.”

“Pets? Friends? Coworkers? Friends’ families? Whatever you value, he’ll take it.”

“He sounds like a dick.”

This was the most she’d talked to another inmate since she’d arrived five years ago. She was about to be utterly annoyed when she realized… wasn’t this exactly what she’d been wanting? What she’d even said aloud last night? One thing her husband didn’t control… “He wasn’t always.”

That was as much of a confirmation as Kathryn figured she was going to get. “Isn’t that the way?”

“I meant what I said about finding whatever you value. He will. Old neighbors. Ex-boyfriends.”

Kathryn’s eyebrows shot up. She stared at the blonde for a second, then looked down at herself, then back up to the blonde. “Ex-boyfriends? Do I look straight to you?”

Annika choked on her coffee, waving off some guy from the day shift that was about to rush to her aid. “I’m fine,” she said irritably in his direction, then cleared her throat and looked across the table at Kathryn. Feminine figure, gorgeous long hair, just a touch of classy makeup, good posture. “Yes, you do.”

Kathryn laughed. “Well I’m not. But there are no exes to speak of. I’ve never been in one place long enough.”

“It really is a risk to associate with me,” Annika said after a moment of semi-awkward silence.

There was nothing left for Kathryn to value except vengeance, and that was something no one could take. It was already done. “I’ll take my chances,” she said instead with a smirk.

Annika’s heart started racing. Someone unafraid of her husband? She’d better make sure. “You… do know who he is, don’t you?” she asked quietly.

“I truly, honestly, genuinely don’t care if he’s Satan himself,” Kathryn said, her heart twisting for this woman and her obvious forced solitude. “I’ll decide who I associate with come hell or high water.”

Annika bit her lip, staring at her food. “When you find out and decide it’s not worth the risk, I’ll understand.”

“All right, just tell me the bastard’s name so we can get this over with,” Kathryn finally said with a roll of her eyes.

Annika stiffened at Kathryn’s words and her tone. “Nikolai Zharkov,” she said, her brows furrowed.

“You’re Annika Zharkova?” Kathryn asked, eyes raking over the woman with new respect. Now she understood the blonde’s reaction. Her husband was a vindictive, ruthless son of a bitch. He was also ultimately the one in charge of the sex trafficking ring she had single-handedly dispatched over the last ten years. He didn’t get his hands dirty with that kind of thing, of course, but she knew who was at the top of that food chain. “Well fuck me.”

Annika startled at Kathryn knowing her name. “You’ve heard of _me_?” Most people didn’t recognize anything other than her surname.

“I know everything about your cocksucker of a husband,” Kathryn said darkly. “And that includes his wife. I do my research before I make a move.”

“Make a move? What are you talking ab—oh, my God. Kathryn Janeway. I knew your name sounded familiar, I just couldn’t place it.”

“ _You_ ’ve heard of _me_?”

Annika didn’t want to say she’d taken the brunt of Nikolai’s frustration with the woman sitting across from her. She went with a much simpler confession. “You’ve been a thorn in Nikolai’s side for years.”

“You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

She knew that Kathryn had no idea what she’d gone through over every single personnel loss. There was no way for her to know, and yet Annika felt irrational anger bubbling up inside her that she could already tell was going to erupt. She was on her feet in an instant, upending Kathryn’s tray into her lap, drink and all. “Go fuck yourself,” she hissed, grabbing her own tray and stalking out of the mess hall. “I’ll have breakfast in my cell,” she spat at a red-headed day shift guard as she passed him.

“Of course, Mrs. Zharkova,” he fell over himself trying to placate her.

***

So… maybe she’d overreacted. The shock of seeing her parents was still reverberating and her edges were a little frayed. She probably should have just accepted the company, or maybe even appreciated that there was someone unafraid to sit across from her. Maybe she’d become so accustomed to her solitude that she couldn’t see a good thing when it was right in front of her. Trust didn’t come easy; her guard was always up, even in here.

Once she’d shut her cell door behind her she let Solnyshko out of his house and he rubbed against her ankles, happy to see her as always. She scratched behind his ears and pet his head, then stretched out on her bed to wait for her appetite to return.

***

Kathryn stared at the empty doorway for a minute, then down at her lap. She debated overreacting but decided it wasn’t worth it and just plucked the bagel from her pants and started eating.


	2. Chapter 2

As she folded laundry, Kathryn thought about why her statement would have upset Annika so much so suddenly when calling her husband all manner of names hadn’t even made the blonde woman blink. Whatever it was, she was sorry she’d said it, especially considering that most of the women in this prison were too stupid to hold a conversation or they couldn’t speak properly through all their missing teeth. Or, if they had teeth and could hold a conversation, they were either white supremacists or religious fanatics. No thank you on both counts. She’d just have to patch the hole she’d made in the beginning of the one friendship she wanted.

She worked until lunch time, then had a quick shower, got dressed and towel dried her hair before heading to the mess hall. Annika was already seated in the same spot, which made this a little easier. If Kathryn had gotten there first the blonde most likely would have just chosen another seat and ignored her.

Annika looked up in surprise when Kathryn joined her again for lunch. “Are you serious?”

“Let me speak,” Kathryn said, holding up a hand as she sat down. “I don’t know why my statement bothered you so much, but it clearly did, and that wasn’t my intention. So I am sorry for that.”

“Suddenly worried about my husband after all?” Annika sniped, her posture still stiff.

“There is nothing that man could do to make me afraid of him,” Kathryn said evenly, holding Annika’s gaze. “Did he ever tell you why I was picking off your associates?” She took a bite of her sandwich and made a face. “Jesus. No mayonnaise?”

“You have to get it yourself,” Annika said, nodding toward the condiment bar. “And no, he did not.”

“Every single one I killed saved the lives of anywhere from one to a dozen women or young girls.”

“That’s very noble of you, but I’m sure there’s more to the story.”

Kathryn eyed her as she stood up. “I need my mayonnaise. Give me a minute.”

Annika watched her take her entire tray to the condiment bar, load her sandwich with mayonnaise, and walk back over. “Your arteries may object to the volume of cholesterol you just added to an otherwise relatively healthy sandwich.”

“My arteries would stage a coup if I didn’t,” Kathryn replied, sliding back into her seat and thoroughly enjoying the next bite. She waited until she swallowed before speaking again. “My mother and my sister. They were the only family I had after my father died. I was away at the police academy when they were taken. The next time I saw either of them was to identify their bodies at the morgue, two years apart.”

Annika knew that stories like that weren’t uncommon. Nikolai’s more unsavory business associates had ruined countless families. “I’m sorry,” she said, though her voice was detached. If she let herself feel for everyone her husband had harmed, she’d never get out of bed.

“You sound like it,” Kathryn nodded.

Annika’s eyes flashed but she kept her tone civil. “Do not presume to know what I’m thinking or what I have been through. Whatever defense mechanisms I employ to stay sane do not need to be justified to you or to anyone.”

“You’re right. I just don’t like insincerity.”

“Just because I didn’t throw myself at your feet sobbing does not mean my apology was insincere.”

Kathryn didn’t know what to say to that, and being speechless was rare indeed, so she had to concede the round to Annika. “Fair enough,” she said, taking another bite of her sandwich.

Now that things had veered off the antagonistic track, Annika wasn’t sure what to say. “Really, no exes?” she finally asked when her curiosity got the better of her. “Or were you just saying that to make it seem like you’re catastrophically unattached?”

Kathryn snorted out a laugh. “No exes. What about you?”

“I’ve been in the service of my husband in one way or another since I was six years old. There wasn’t much time for socializing.”

Kathryn’s amusement vanished. “I didn’t realize.”

“I thought you did your research.”

“That bit doesn’t come up on Google.”

“When I was fifteen I had my first kiss. The boy was dead the next day, throat slit and deposited in the doorway of my bedroom.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“I spent the day scrubbing blood out of my carpet, but the stain never really went away.”

“Metaphorical or literal?”

“Either.”

Kathryn nodded. “I assume the next person you kissed was your husband?”

Annika nodded. “Strangely enough, at the time, I was flattered.”

“It’s not so strange,” Kathryn said softly. “He was all you knew, right? And I’m sure all your little girlfriends were impressed.”

Annika nodded again. “Jealous, really. They kept asking me what it was like, but I never knew how to answer.”

“Why’s that?”

“I had no idea back then, but by now I’ve realized it’s because I’m about as straight as you.”

It was Kathryn’s turn to choke on her drink, and after a brief coughing fit she stared at Annika, eyes sparkling. “You did that on purpose. You saw me taking a drink and waited for the right moment to spring that on me.”

Annika finished the last bite of her sandwich and stood, giving Kathryn a fingery little wave over her shoulder as she left the mess hall.

“Tease,” Kathryn muttered under her breath, shaking her head. That was twice today that Annika had left her flustered.

***

Over the next few weeks they got to know each other a little better, talking about various things while they ate, but meals were the only time they saw each other. Kathryn never really broached the subject of what Annika did with the rest of her day because it seemed like whenever the conversation started to steer in that direction, the blonde would steer it away. She found herself more and more curious, liking Annika more and more every time they talked. The woman was intelligent, insightful, and really quite funny once she dropped her guard just a little. Kathryn found herself dreading the end of every meal… she didn’t want to part ways.

And that was… scary. She’d been truthful in saying she didn’t have any exes because she was never in one place long enough, but even if she’d been in one place her entire life, there would still be no exes. She’d never had anything more than a one-night stand. Never wanted to. Never kept in contact with anyone she slept with, even as friends. The notion of true intimacy was terrifying, and the fact that she craved Annika’s company was spooking the hell out of her. Although the blonde had never shown any interest in anything besides table conversation, so there really wasn’t anything to worry about.

***

Annika was happier than she’d ever been, finding herself looking forward to interacting with another person for the first time in a long, long time. She couldn’t help smiling on her way to the mess hall, though she always tried to hide it. She didn’t need anyone knowing she considered Kathryn a friend. Well, Georgia knew, but she was convinced that was only because the young guard had a B.A. in psychology and was impossible to lie to. She had been quite aggrieved at the teasing at first, but when it became clear it was good natured and that Georgia wasn’t planning to scream her business from the roof, she relaxed about it. There may have even been a blush once or twice.

When she heard Kathryn had gotten a cell mate, she felt truly isolated for the first time since being locked up. Suddenly her spacious, well-stocked single cell wasn’t as appealing as it had been. Maybe she would try to ingratiate herself a little more with the rest of the inmates; spend more time on the block instead of by herself with her cat. Not that he wasn’t good company, of course, but the past few weeks getting to know Kathryn had opened her eyes to what she’d been missing. So she decided to take a walk.

That was a mistake. She had gone outside with the intention of trying to socialize, but before she got a foot away from the door she saw Kathryn across the yard with a girl. Her new cell mate, probably.

Annika went back inside before she could even take a breath, heading back to her cell with tears stinging her eyes and a pit of jealous rage in her stomach. Intellectually, she knew she had no right to be upset. She had never showed a grain of interest in anything more than casual friendship with Kathryn; she had no claim to the woman whatsoever, but she was upset anyway. Jealousy and betrayal were not rational emotions; they came and went as they pleased with no mind to whether they belonged.

***

Kathryn frowned as she sat at the dinner table and Annika wasn’t there yet. The blonde was always there first.

By the time dinner was halfway over, Kathryn was restless and worried. She finished eating and threw out her trash, then found Georgia stationed at one of the mess hall doors. “Do you know where Annika is?” she asked, knowing they were friendly.

“She’s in her cell,” Georgia told Kathryn, though she would not have told anyone else.

“Is she sick?” Kathryn’s worry grew.

“I’m not sure. She didn’t say. She just said she wasn’t coming to dinner.”

“Wha—” Kathryn stopped and ran a hand through her hair. “Can I talk to her?”

Again, Georgia would have said no to anyone else, but Kathryn was the one person that Mrs. Zharkova had made a connection with, and she wanted to provide every opportunity for that connection to continue. “Yeah. Come on.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Kathryn nodded and followed the guard through the maze of corridors and down to the end of D-block, which she didn’t normally have access to since she was in C-block.

“It’s not locked, “Georgia said. “I’ll be at the end of the hall since I can’t leave you alone in this block.”

“Thank you,” Kathryn said quietly, heading for the cell door. She didn’t even take in the grandiose nature of Annika’s cell at the moment because her worry took over the moment she saw the blonde curled up in bed facing the wall. “Annika?” she ventured. “Are you all right?”

 _Shit_. Shit, fuck, shit. “I’m fine,” she forced herself to say. “I just wasn’t hungry.”

Kathryn swallowed past the lump in her throat. “But you… didn’t want to come to dinner and tell me? Not out of obligation I mean of course,” she said awkwardly, giving herself a mental slap. “I was just worried something had happened to you. You haven’t missed a meal before. I’m not used to sitting by myself.”

“I figured you’d sit with your new cell mate,” Annika said, trying not to sound bitter.

Kathryn’s breath left her at the jealousy in Annika’s tone. “Why would you think that? You and I have eaten every meal together since I got here. I would be spending all my time with you if you were available, but you’re not…”

Annika’s pulse jumped at the last part and she squished Solnyshko against her chest, burying her face in his fur to collect herself before responding to that. “Ironically, I decided to make myself available this afternoon. During yard time.”

Kathryn’s eyes widened, a hand coming up to cover her mouth, holding in a gasp. Annika had been in the yard? Had seen her with her cell mate? And most importantly, it made her jealous? “I don’t—” she tried to speak but had no idea what she was going to say. “I—I don’t—”

“It’s fine. I get it. She’s cute. I have no right to be jealous. Except I am, Kathryn. When I saw you together I couldn’t breathe.”

Solnyshko meowed and Kathryn screamed, jumping about a foot backward and knocking into the bars of the cell. “What in the actual fuck!”

Georgia started running down the corridor when she heard Kathryn scream.

Kathryn heard bootfalls and poked her head out the door. “There’s a cat,” she said blankly. “In a prison cell. I was startled.”

Georgia snorted her amusement as she skidded to a stop and turned to re-take her post at the end of the hall.

“I’m sorry that seeing me with Wendy upset you,” Kathryn said when she turned back to Annika. “But you’ve never given me any indication that any kind of intimacy would be welcomed. I only see you at meals, and I know you’re allowed to do whatever you like, so the limited amount of time I get to see you is your choice.” She looked around the cell for the first time, taking in the television, the plush rug that covered most of the floor, the thick mattress and satin sheets, the computer, and the little closed-off area for the cat. “Now I see why.”

Annika put Solnyshko in his house and sat on the edge of her bed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Kathryn felt herself starting to get angry and tried to breathe through it. “Who’d want to leave this _penthouse_? I’m surprised you don’t order in take out from the local pizzeria.”

“Don’t do that,” Annika said, brows drawing down. “Don’t judge me.”

“No?” Kathryn asked. “I shouldn’t judge you for sitting up here in this fucking apartment of a cell with a TV and a computer and a Goddamn fucking _cat_ while the rest of us commoners are slumming it on the block?”

Annika knew how bad it looked. Honestly she wasn’t sure what to say in her own defense.

“I think I just got to know the real you,” Kathryn said, shaking her head as she pushed open the cell door and walked away.

“Fuck,” Annika breathed, stretching out to lay down with her hands over her face. “Fuck.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trigger warning in the notes in chapter one applies heavily to this chapter. Like I said, I didn't write out the scene, but it's obvious what happened and both ladies deal with the aftermath.

Kathryn did her best to put Annika out of her mind, which was helped along by the fact that the blonde had stopped coming to the mess hall for meals. Oh, who was she kidding? She still thought about Mrs. fucking Zharkova every single day. And she missed her friend. She almost wished she’d never even gone to D-block, but she couldn’t wish it entirely because truth was important to her.

Her cell mate was cute, but she was no Harvard graduate, and things were purely physical between them. Kathryn missed being able to talk to someone. To Annika.

***

A few more weeks went by and Annika hadn’t come out of her cell much. And it was nearing time for the dreaded yearly visit from Nikolai, so most of the time now she was on edge, waiting for the notification, which came all too soon.

The moment she stepped into the private visitation room and smelled booze in the fucking air, she knew this was going to be a nightmare. Nikolai could barely stand up and his words were slurred.

***

When Georgia saw the visitation room door open and Annika’s husband doing up his pants as he staggered out, she raised an eyebrow. When Annika wasn’t out right after him, she got a little nervous. When he spoke to her, four slurred words, ‘see to my vife’, she panicked. She found Annika unconscious on the floor, and quickly radioed for one of the other female guards to bring a blanket.

***

Annika woke up with pain flooding her body in so many places she couldn’t tell where most of it was coming from. She was naked, but wrapped in a blanket. She was laying on something soft, so she’d been moved from the floor of the visitation room.

When she opened her eyes, harsh lighting made her head pound and she shut them quickly with a groan. She opened them again, however, when she felt the blanket move. “Don’t touch me!” she shouted, her voice hurting her own ears, and the nurse jumped backward.

“You’re in the infirmary,” the woman said gently. “I’m just going to pull the blanket down a little so I can start to examine you.”

“No, I said don’t touch me,” Annika repeated, tears welling in her eyes.

“Mrs. Zharkova, I have to treat your wounds—”

“Stop fucking calling me that! If you fucking touch me I swear to God I’ll get him right back in here and he will disembowel you for going against my wishes…” She couldn’t maintain the shouting very long and her voice dropped to a raspy sort of sound.

The nurse’s face drained of color and she didn’t know what to do. “You have open wounds,” she finally whispered, making sure she stood several feet away from her agitated patient. “They need to be treated.”

“Then go get Kathryn. Kathryn Janeway. I don’t want anyone else touching me,” Annika whispered back, turning her face away. “I’m sure you can direct her what to do.”

***

Kathryn looked up from the book she was reading when Georgia appeared at the entrance to her cell. 

“There’s been a… situation,” the young guard said hesitantly, and Kathryn could tell that she was concerned. “You’re needed in the infirmary.”

She put her book aside and stood immediately with a nod, not saying anything, just following Georgia through the prison to the infirmary. “You’re not going in?” she asked when Georgia took up post at the door.

“You and the nurse are the only people permitted to be inside at the moment,” Georgia replied.

“Oh,” Kathryn said, wondering what in the hell was going on. She took a breath and pushed open the door, gasping when she saw Annika laying on one of the cots covered in a blanket, bruises on her face and blood in her hair. “Oh, no,” she murmured, rushing to the blonde’s side.

“She requested you be the one to treat her,” the nurse spoke up quietly.

“I don’t know how to do that,” Kathryn said as Annika turned to look at her. “What happened?”

Annika sniffled, but there was no use pretending she hadn’t been crying. “He found out I was the one who turned myself in.”

“You turned yourself in?” Kathryn asked, her jaw dropping. That had never come up in conversation. Then the implications of it all hit home and she was afraid to see the rest of Annika’s wounds. “How—he—I—”

“We really should get started,” the nurse spoke up.

“Of course,” Kathryn rushed, nodding at the nurse. “What do I do?”

“Mrs. Zhark—”

“I fucking said—”

“Annika,” the nurse amended quickly. “Do you feel like anything’s broken? Can you move your hands, fingers, toes?”

Annika closed her eyes and tried to focus. She could move everything, but the ring finger on her left hand was more painful than the rest. “I think my ring finger is dislocated,” she offered, clearing her throat. “On my left hand. He jerked the ring off. I can move my fingers and toes fine otherwise. My left shoulder feels a little out of place as well. It hurts to breathe. I think I took an elbow to the ribs, I’m not sure.”

“We took a CT while you were unconscious, and it’s normal, so you don’t have a concussion or any other type of brain swelling. We also took a sonogram of your abdominal area, which was normal. Those two things were what we were most worried about, but now that you’re clear we can focus on everything else. Where else were you struck?”

Kathryn couldn’t resist the urge to brush a lock of hair back from Annika’s face, hoping the blonde wouldn’t mind.

Annika took comfort in the gesture and tried to relax. “My face… my arms… my sides, stomach, thighs. Everywhere, I think. I don’t know. I tried to block most of it out. It all blended together anyway.”

“Why didn’t anyone intervene?” Kathryn asked, turning heated eyes on the nurse.

“Kathryn, don’t,” Annika said, reaching a hand out from under the blanket to lay it on Kathryn’s arm.

Kathryn covered Annika’s hand with hers and sighed, but nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m going to ask Kathryn to move the blanket down to your waist,” the nurse said once they’d quieted.

“Is that all right?” Kathryn asked permission.

Annika closed her eyes. “Yes.”

Kathryn wanted to close her eyes as well, but she sucked it up and carefully peeled the blanket away, revealing all manner of injuries that made her want to tear the man’s throat out with her teeth.

“Other than the bruising to your ribs, those injuries at first glance look superficial,” the nurse spoke up. “Kathryn, the tray beside you should have what you need to clean and bandage the lacerations. Let me know if you have any questions, otherwise just let me know when you’re finished. I’ll be in my office but I’ll leave the door open so I can hear if you call. Don’t forget to grab a pair of gloves from the box on the wall.”

Kathryn nodded as the nurse left them mostly alone, and she pulled on a pair of gloves before picking up the bottle of antiseptic and one of the gauze squares. “I’ll kill him,” she promised, starting to tenderly clean the wounds. “With my bare hands, Annika, I swear on my life that I will kill him.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Annika sniffed, though the declaration did get Kathryn a hint of a smile. “Ah,” she hissed at one particularly nasty scrape across one of her breasts.

“Sorry,” Kathryn frowned, leaning down to blow cool air across the cut.

Annika shivered and gripped the blanket in both hands. “Stop with the foreplay,” she teased.

Kathryn gave a quiet snort and finished up with the antiseptic, then taped non-stick pads over the lacerations that were still trying to bleed. “I’m finished,” she called to the nurse.

“Go ahead and do the same for any cuts below the waist,” the nurse called back. “Then we’ll get an X-ray of her ribs.”

Annika held the blanket tighter at that. “Listen,” she said, casting her eyes anywhere other than Kathryn’s face. “You’re not going to like it.”

Kathryn’s heart slammed painfully against her chest but she did her best to appear as calm and casual as possible. Annika shouldn’t have to worry about her reaction on top of everything else. “Don’t worry about me, please,” she said imploringly. “You’re the only one that matters right now.”

Annika didn’t want her to see, but she let go of the blanket, holding her breath and turning her head away as Kathryn tugged it back up to cover her top half instead.

“Jesus Christ,” Kathryn exhaled sharply, blinking back tears. “There’s so much blood…”

Annika lifted a hand to wipe her eyes, still facing away from Kathryn. “He was angry.”

Nothing more needed to be said. Kathryn slipped into full caretaker mode, cleaning the cuts on her thighs and the scratches on her hips, bandaging them up, and then she got a cloth from the cabinet on the far wall and wet it with cool water, hoping it would be soothing as she placed it between Annika’s legs.

Annika shifted uncomfortably at first, but after a few seconds it did actually feel nice and she relaxed with a little purr. “The cool water is a perfect touch. Thank you,” she said softly. “Thank you for everything. I know we’re not friends anymore, but—”

“We are,” Kathryn interrupted, wiping her eyes on the shoulder of her shirt. “We are still friends,” she promised again. “I’m sorry for the way I judged you. I had no right.”

“You had every right, and you weren’t off the mark,” Annika said with a sigh.

“No,” Kathryn insisted. “If I had a cell like that, I wouldn’t give it up either. I had no right to judge.”

Annika bit her lip and finally turned to look at Kathryn. “You were just mad about the cat.”

Kathryn grinned, appreciating the levity, and brushed some more hair out of Annika’s face. “Right. That must have been it. The way it meowed at me was extremely offensive.”

“He,” Annika corrected her. “His name is Solnyshko.”

“That’s a mouthful. Do you think he’ll mind if I call him Sol?”

“He’s Russian, not Spanish.”

“Then I’ll pronounce it like Saul.”

Annika laughed and then grimaced at the pain it caused. “Nicknaming my cat… does that mean you’re going to be spending time with him? With us?”

Kathryn thought she might have blushed at that question. “I hope so,” she answered honestly.

“How’s it going out there, ladies?” the nurse called, rolling her chair to the doorway of her office and peeking her head out.

Kathryn had pretty much forgotten she was there. “Oh. I just finished,” she said, lowering the blanket so it covered Annika’s whole body again. “Wait, what about your other side, your back and everything?” she asked the blonde.

Annika felt her cheeks heat up. “Mostly uninjured,” she said, clearing her throat and mumbling in a rush, “just another cool cloth.”

“Another cool cl—oh,” Kathryn stuttered, blushing right along with her, grabbing another cloth and preparing it, then returning to Annika’s side. “How do you want me to, um…?”

Annika covered her face with her hands and refused to answer.

“Okay, just… can you roll onto your side if I help you?”

“I think so,” Annika muttered through her fingers.

Kathryn helped her onto her side and gently cleaned away the rest of the blood, then pressed the cloth a little ways between her cheeks and helped her onto her back again. “Is that good?” she asked. “Is it helping?”

“Mhmm,” Annika nodded, keeping her face covered.

The nurse had popped back into her office during that little exchange, and Kathryn called to her then. “Okay, I’m actually finished this time.”

***

After an X-ray revealed two cracked ribs, Annika reluctantly let the nurse examine her left ring finger and her shoulder.

“Your shoulder is dislocated and your finger is sprained,” the nurse announced. “I’ll put a splint on your finger but I’ll have to pop your shoulder back into place. Please do not disembowel me,” she added wryly.

Annika glanced sheepishly at Kathryn, then back to the nurse. “I won’t,” she mumbled.

Kathryn chose not to comment, though she did purse her lips in amusement. Then she held Annika’s hand while the nurse forced her shoulder back into its socket and the blonde’s scream pierced her ears.

Annika lay there breathing heavy for a few minutes before rolling her shoulder with a nod. “Better.”

The nurse nodded back, preparing and affixing a splint. “You’re welcome,” she said, raising one eyebrow.

Kathryn coughed to hide a laugh and Annika rolled her eyes. “Thank you,” she said, overenunciating purposely.

“Now… I know you have your own cell, so you have two choices. You can either stay here until you’re healed enough to see to yourself or you can move Kathryn in with you to see to your recovery.”

“Move in?” Kathryn asked, a teasing glint in her eyes. “We haven’t even kissed.”

“I do not need to know about the nature of your relationship,” the nurse chuckled, shaking her head. “I’ll give you a minute alone to talk about it.”

Annika looked hopefully at Kathryn. “I’d rather be in my own space… and I’d rather have you look after me than her,” she said, biting her lip.

Kathryn’s heart skipped a beat and her stomach fluttered with nerves. “Then consider it done.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kept giving me all manner of problems! So, sorry it took so long but it wasn't happening for me. Finally I was able to wrangle it.

Annika could walk, but every step was painful, so she grudgingly let Kathryn get her into a wheelchair for the trip to her cell.

“So,” Kathryn said casually as she pushed the wheelchair. “You threatened to disembowel the nurse?”

“I believe that falls under doctor/patient confidentiality,” Annika replied.

Kathryn laughed and turned the corner after Georgia. It wasn’t too much further to Annika’s meowing cell and when they stopped in front of it a sudden thought assaulted her. “Wait. Does this mean I’m going to have to clean that thing’s litter box?”

Georgia turned away from them both to hide her reaction, pressing a hand to her mouth. “I’ll do it,” she said before Annika could have to come up with a response. “Should we call you princess Kathryn?”

“Don’t make me laugh, it hurts,” Annika complained.

Kathryn pushed the wheelchair inside and helped Annika onto the bed, making sure to keep the blanket around her for modesty until she could cover the blonde with her sheets. “If these are Egyptian Cotton I swear to God…”

“I said don’t make me laugh,” Annika nearly whined. They were obviously satin.

“Sorry,” Kathryn said sheepishly, taking away the blanket and handing it to Georgia.

“I’ll be wandering the block if you need anything,” Georgia told them both before slipping out of the cell and heading to do her rounds.

“Kathryn,” Annika said seriously once they were alone.

Kathryn sat on the edge of the bed a bit awkwardly. “Yes?”

The blonde looked at the ceiling, unable to look at Kathryn’s face while she spoke. “He said he’ll be back as soon as my mouth heals enough to suck his dick.” She had disliked Nikolai for awhile now, but she had never been afraid of him before.

Kathryn felt a rage building up inside her that she hadn’t felt since her mother and sister were taken. “Listen to me very carefully,” she said, her voice low and tightly controlled. “That is not going to happen. I will siphon gas from the kitchen and make a fucking pipe bomb before I let him touch you again. Everyone else here might either be terrified of him or worship the ground he walks on, but he’s got nothing on me. When people I care about are threatened… he’s got nothing on me. He was as good as dead the second he touched you against your will.” Many things frightened Kathryn. Nikolai Zharkov wasn’t one of them.

Annika’s eyes filled with tears, overwhelmed with Kathryn’s vehement defense, and she had to do something to lighten the mood or she felt like she would drown. “Where did you learn how to make a pipe bomb?”

Kathryn recognized the attempt for what it was and let a little smirk tug at her lips. “Eighth grade detention.”

“What were you doing in detention?” Annika gasped, pretending to be shocked.

“Learning how to make pipe bombs, I just told you,” Kathryn teased.

“Let me rephrase,” Annika said dryly. “Why did you get sent to detention?”

“I was an angry kid,” Kathryn said with a sigh. “I got into a lot of fights at school.” She reached a hand up to stroke Annika’s hair, giving a soft shake of her head. “I’m sorry he did this to you…”

Annika’s sigh mirrored Kathryn’s. “I wish I could say it was the first time.”

“I hope you understand how serious I am when I say I’m going to kill him.”

“I think I do,” Annika said, swallowing with some difficulty. “But I don’t want you getting more time.”

“I have a feeling I won’t.” Why would any of the prison staff penalize her for loosening the nooses around their necks?

***

Annika’s recovery was slow going. She took pain killers every eight hours around the clock and Kathryn changed her bandages and cleaned her wounds twice a day. For the first couple of days the blonde burst into tears every time she had to use the bathroom, but by day three the burning had died down and it wasn’t quite so bad. By the end of the week she could move around a little better and get dressed with minimal assistance from Kathryn, but what she really wanted was a shower. “I need to bathe,” she announced after Georgia had come to collect their dinner dishes.

“I’ll call for a jacuzzi tub,” Kathryn deadpanned.

“Ask for jade or marble,” Annika returned the volley.

“Did the nurse say you could have a bath yet?” Kathryn then asked seriously.

“I don’t care,” Annika whined.

“Don’t be naughty,” Kathryn said with a chuckle. “I’ll ask the nurse.”

“Naughty,” Annika protested, crinkling her nose. “I am no such thing.”

Kathryn didn’t reply to that, she just slipped out of the cell and walked down the hall to ask Georgia to ask the nurse.

Annika lay there pouting until Kathryn returned, hoping for good news. She felt disgusting by now even though Kathryn had sponged her off a few times. “Please? Yes?” she asked when the other woman returned.

“She said it’s up to me if I think you can handle it, but you’re no longer medically barred from bathing.”

“Thank God,” Annika drawled with a roll of her eyes. She had a tub in her bathroom even if it wasn’t a jacuzzi.

“Hold on, I didn’t say yes yet,” Kathryn teased, raising an eyebrow as she approached the bed and sat down.

Annika couldn’t believe what she was hearing and her jaw dropped. “What?”

“Mhmm,” Kathryn nodded. “I don’t give in to tantrums.”

“If you think that was a tantrum…” Annika said, returning the raised eyebrow.

Kathryn gave up the ruse with a laugh and kissed Annika’s forehead. “I’ll draw you a bath.”

“I’ll show you a real tantrum when I’m better equipped to handle any resulting fallout,” Annika shot after her friend as Kathryn headed for the bathroom.

Kathryn turned on the water and adjusted the temperature, then blocked the drain and wandered back out while she let the tub fill. “What kind of fallout are you expecting?”

Annika lightly chewed her bottom lip as she turned her face toward the wall to hide her blush. “Any number of things.”

Intrigued by the blonde’s reaction, Kathryn sat down next to her again and stroked a finger up one bare arm. “Talk to me?”

Annika kept looking at the wall but she did attempt to confide in the older woman. “Before he started drinking, Nikolai was actually a pretty decent husband,” she said quietly. “It’s okay if you don’t want to hear this…”

Kathryn hated the thought of that bastard touching Annika at any time, decent or not, but she wasn’t going to let that get in the way of things. “No no, it’s all right,” she said gently. “Go ahead.”

“I mean it was never the best sex, seeing as how I’m gay, but it was fine. And sometimes he got it right by accident or sometimes he’d ask me what I wanted…”

Kathryn brushed a lock of hair out of Annika’s face. “And what did you want?”

“You know, just different things,” Annika replied, her blush intensifying. “Some things he said he couldn’t do, though. I asked him to tie me up once and I thought he was going to have a heart attack. I mean I wasn’t looking to be trussed up or anything, just my hands bound lightly with one of his ties, but he was so unnerved by the idea his face lost all its color.”

Kathryn almost laughed, trying to picture the big bad mob boss unable to stomach the thought of tying up his wife. “I most definitely have no objection to a little bondage here and there,” she said in a low voice instead. “What else did you want, Annika?”

“I provoked him once to the point of popping me on the ass with his hand, but when I asked him to do it again he wouldn’t.”

“He sounds a little prudish for a criminal…”

“That’s one way of putting it, I guess. I’m sure he didn’t have a problem doing all of that to his mistresses, but with me, I don’t know. Maybe because he’d known me since I was six.”

“I don’t want to leave this conversation but the bathtub’s going to overflow,” Kathryn said with a smirk, getting off the bed and going to attend to the water. She shut off the taps and dipped her hand in to make sure it was warm enough, and when she was satisfied she called out, “all right, come on in, princess.”

“Princess,” Annika complained, making a face as she slid out from under the sheet and walked carefully to the bathroom.

Kathryn helped her into the tub and the look on Annika’s face as she sank down into the water was pure bliss. “I think you should keep this one above water,” she said, nodding at the worst of the cuts on the blonde’s chest. “It’s healing, but stagnant water is a no-no.”

Annika nodded, willing to agree to anything if it meant she didn’t have to get out of the bathtub. She let her eyes drift closed and after relaxing for awhile she licked her lips and ventured into the labyrinth of Kathryn’s past. “So… if Nikolai Zharkov couldn’t catch you, how in the hell did the police?”

“Oh my. Jumping right in, are you?” Kathryn asked, jolted out of her lazy almost-doze on the floor beside the bathtub. “Well… I could say I got sloppy, but we both know that’s unlikely. The truth is, when I took down the last group, I—” She stopped and stared down at her hands, fumbling with the seam on her pants. “There was an—I guess you would call her an unexpected complication. I felt like I was chasing shadows through that warehouse. I knew there were five men inside and the first four I found right away and dropped them, but then I had to look around and he knew I was there so he started trashing the place. You know, breaking windows and beer bottles, busting tables, smashing lights, and then he torched it. I think he planned to burn up any evidence and escape, but I finally caught him and shot him in the back of the head. The bastard went down, one shot through and through; the warehouse was in flames, broken glass and drug paraphernalia everywhere, and this—little girl comes walking out of one of the rooms calling for her daddy.” Even now the memory made her choke up a little. “She couldn’t have been more than three or four. I wasn’t going to leave her there and I wasn’t going to keep her, and I wasn’t going to put her outside on the street, so I took her to the precinct. One look at me and they knew I’d been up to some shit. Every single one of the bastards in that trafficking ring was dead and I had nothing left for me on the outside so I confessed. I’ve been treading water in the county jail for the past six months waiting on the transfer here.”

Annika’s throat felt a little too tight and she had to clear it a few times before any words would come out. “You did that little girl a favor… you know that, right?”

Kathryn looked up sharply, searching Annika’s face. “You mean so she wouldn’t grow up the way you did?”

Annika nodded.

“I guess I never really thought of it that way. Thank you,” Kathryn said quietly. And before she could get lost in thought she shifted onto her knees and reached for the tap. “Let’s get your hair washed.”

“You’re going to—” Annika started to ask but stopped herself. “I’m not going to complain.”

Kathryn chuckled and turned on the water, adjusting the temperature and then helping Annika get her head under the faucet until her hair was soaked through. That accomplished, she shut off the tap and picked up the shampoo. “They let you bring in shampoo from Russia?” she asked when she couldn’t read the label. “Stupid question. Of course they did. They let you bring in Shovplinko.”

Annika snorted out an uncontrollable laugh and proceeded to lose her shit for about a minute and a half. “Solnyshko,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I thought you were going to call him Sol.”

Kathryn looked on, thoroughly amused and rather pleased with herself for causing such a reaction. “Right… I forgot.”

“Jesus Christ,” Annika said when she’d settled enough to sit up and face away so Kathryn could wash her hair.

“I won’t apologize. You have a beautiful laugh,” Kathryn said with a grin, pouring shampoo into her hands and starting to lather up Annika’s hair.

“Not sorry, hm? I’ll remember that,” Annika said, but she had already almost forgotten it because Kathryn’s hands in her hair felt amazing. A soft moan filtered out and she wondered how she had gone her entire life without this woman washing her hair. “That feels so good,” she breathed. “You have no idea.”

“It always feels good to wash your hair after a week without a bath,” Kathryn teased.

“Not what I meant,” Annika indulged her.

“I am aware,” Kathryn said quietly, resisting the urge to duck her head and kiss a bare shoulder.

“Mhmm. You just like to cause trouble, don’t you?” Annika returned the teasing.

“Everywhere I go.”

“Can you just keep washing my hair forever?”

“If you want to lose that lustrous shine.”

“I wasn’t aware I had such a thing.”

“Believe me, honey, you do.”

“Are we still talking about my hair?”

Kathryn laughed and finished up, then turned on the tap again and helped Annika rinse her hair. When the water was shut off again she answered. “We were, but I’m sure I can come up with equally alluring descriptions for the rest of you.”

“Ms. Janeway, are you coming on to me?”

“I would certainly hope so since we’ve already moved in together.”

“Those were exigent circumstances.”

“How very _Law and Order_ of you.”

“Everyone around Nikolai was schooled in basic law in case any of us ever had to represent ourselves in a pinch, for an arraignment or something.”

“That’s… diligent.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is paranoid.”

“Do you think you can wash your own body? Because I’ll be honest with you, my fingers will end up inside you if they go anywhere near the lower half of your body in a non-medical context.”

Annika choked on the air in her windpipe and shot Kathryn a look over her shoulder. “Oh my God.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m coming on to you?”

“No, that one was obvious.”

Kathryn smirked and kissed the top of her head since her hair was shampoo free. “I’ll sit over there on the sink in case you genuinely need my help, all right?” she then said seriously.

Annika couldn’t remember ever feeling so content and she offered a lazy smile. “All right. Thank you, Kathryn. For everything.”

Kathryn felt emotions start to rise up in her chest and she forced them down with another teasing reply. “Hey, I get a spacious condo out of the deal.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's so short but I feel like the next scene needs its own chapter.

After her bath, once she was dried off and dressed, Annika climbed into bed next to Kathryn to watch some TV. She didn’t really care what was on, it was just nice to have some background noise.

“Feel better now that your hair is washed?” Kathryn asked, turning her head to look at Annika.

“You have no idea. Thank you,” Annika said, turning on her side and snuggling up to the older woman. “You should know something,” she said quietly.

“Oh?” Kathryn asked, raising an eyebrow at the snuggling. Not that she was complaining.

“If I wasn’t still sore, the argument about your fingers wouldn’t have gotten me to wash myself…”

Kathryn fought a shiver and wrapped her arm around Annika, holding the blonde close. “Good to know,” she said with a grin.

“You make me feel so safe,” Annika said after a minute or two of comfortable silence. “Like he really can’t get to me when I’m in your arms.”

“He can’t,” Kathryn promised, kissing the top of Annika’s head.

“Would you play with my hair?” Annika asked, lifting her head when Kathryn prompted her to.

Kathryn tugged the blonde’s hair out from where it was stuck between Annika and the pillow, running her fingers through it as Annika lay her head back down. “Will this help you sleep?”

“I think so,” Annika murmured, pressing a kiss to the shoulder beneath her mouth. “Thank you.”

“Any time,” Kathryn murmured back, continuing to run her fingers through the damp strands until Annika’s breathing evened into sleep.

***

The next morning when Georgia brought them breakfast, Annika was still asleep and Kathryn followed Georgia out into the corridor. “I need your help, indirectly,” she said, getting right to the point. “Can you get me blueprints of the building?”

“I’d have to steal them from the warden’s office… do I want to ask what you need them for?”

“Probably not. That’s where the ‘indirectly’ comes in. I want you to have plausible deniability.”

“Then I won’t ask what you’re planning to do. Give me a few hours. I’ll go in when she takes her lunch break.”

“Thank you,” Kathryn said, breathing a sigh of relief and giving Georgia’s elbow a grateful squeeze, then returning to the cell to wake Annika for breakfast. “Rise and shine, Princess,” she said in a smoky voice after gently shaking the blonde’s shoulder.

Annika groaned and threw an arm across her face to shield her eyes. “I don’t think it would be humanly possible for me to like that nickname any less…”

Kathryn laughed and kissed her forehead. “Breakfast is served,” she said, knowing that would get Annika’s attention. “Bagels, eggs and sausage.”

“Magic words,” Annika said, her arm coming away from her face as she peered at the breakfast trays. “Please tell me there’s cream cheese this time…”

“Regular or strawberry,” Kathryn replied with a chuckle, holding up said items as if she were showcasing a product at a trade show.

“No blueberry?” Annika teased, pretending to pout.

“Spoiled brat,” Kathryn muttered, shaking her head. “And you wonder at the nickname Princess…”

“Do you want the regular or the strawberry?” Annika asked, finally sitting up.

“Either’s fine. You?”

“I prefer the strawberry if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

***

Kathryn found the blueprints taped to the bottom of her lunch tray and as soon as she was done eating she spread them out on the bed and started studying them.

“What are those for?” Annika asked with her mouth full of sandwich.

“Please, what happened to your manners?” Kathryn asked, eyes wide. “Swallow, then speak…”

Annika rolled her eyes and made a show of swallowing her food, then asked again. “What are those for?”

“My future as an architect.”

“What happened to _your_ manners? Lying is as bad as talking with your mouth full…”

Kathryn snickered and shook her head. “I like to know everything about where I am.”

“Half truths aren’t much better,” Annika frowned.

“Neither is being nosy,” Kathryn pointed out. “I don’t want you worrying. Just have a little faith in me, all right? Please?”

“When someone tells you not to worry it’s usually because they’re going to do something dangerous,” Annika said quietly, the teasing gone from her voice.

Kathryn reached out and laid a hand on the blonde’s knee. “Annika… do you trust me?”

“Of course, but—”

“Then trust me,” Kathryn said resolutely, looking into worried blue eyes.

Annika had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she didn’t want a confrontation, not with the one person she’d formed such a strong bond with. Her eyes welled with tears even as she nodded her assent.

Kathryn leaned forward and pressed her lips to one of Annika’s hollow teardrops, and then when a few real tears spilled from watery eyes she kissed them away.

Annika’s breath caught, the feel of Kathryn’s lips on her face sending her body into overdrive. These kisses were markedly different from the kisses to her head or forehead. These were promises. She pressed her face more firmly against Kathryn’s mouth, a hitching moan forcing its way out.

“There will be plenty of time for that when you’re fully healed,” Kathryn purred, both at Annika’s actions and words. _And after I’ve killed your bastard husband_.


	6. Chapter 6

Once she had the layout memorized, Kathryn made several trial runs over the next few days, timing herself to see which route would be easiest and fastest. Once she decided on a route she worked on speed and stealth, and when she wasn’t doing that, she worked out. She wasn’t worried about her physical capabilities but she didn’t want to lose her edge, either.

Annika didn’t ask where Kathryn kept running off to because she didn’t like being called nosy, but it had her on edge, and most of the time Kathryn was gone she spent sitting on her bed chewing her fingernails.

“You okay?” Georgia asked on one such occasion, peeking her head into Annika’s cell.

“Huh?” Annika asked absently, blinking and turning to look at the other blonde. “Oh. Yes, I’m fine. Thank you…”

Georgia raised an eyebrow and stepped inside, nodding toward Annika’s fingernails. “Your fingernails say otherwise. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without a perfect manicure.”

Annika tore her hand away from her mouth and stared down at her less-than-perfect, uneven nails with a frown. “Actually, would you mind walking me to the salon?”

“You don’t want Angie to come here?” Georgia asked, unable to hide her surprise. Annika had always preferred any sort of interaction to take place in her cell.

“I’m trying to branch out,” Annika explained with a blush. Getting a manicure was the perfect thing to get her mind off of Kathryn. At least for an hour or so.

***

Angie wolf-whistled when she looked up and saw Annika Zharkova in her doorway. “Look what the cat dragged in,” she teased, motioning the blonde in and to a chair. “Gotta say I’m surprised to see you in my house, mami…”

Annika blushed again and sank into the leather swivel chair, resting her hands on the arms while she waited for Angie to prepare a tray.

Angie’s eyes widened and her mouth formed a crooked sort of square when she saw Annika’s fingernails. “Girl what in the fuck?” she asked, grabbing one of the blonde’s hands and yanking it closer to her face for inspection.

Annika had never really said much to the woman before, other than picking out style and color and saying thank you. “I’ve been biting them,” she admitted quietly.

“Ya think?” Angie asked, eyebrows shooting up as she released Annika’s hand and rummaged around in her drawers until she found a suitable file. She hooked one ankle around the leg of a chair behind her and dragged it forward, plopping herself down onto it as she once again took Annika’s hand, this time gentler and with much less shock involved. She started the process of filing the jagged nails, keeping them as long as she could while still making sure they could be smooth all around.

Annika’s mind started to wander and she cleared her throat, attempting to start a conversation. Thinking about Kathryn would defeat the whole purpose of the excursion. “How long have you been doing nails?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper.

“Since I popped out my mama,” Angie said with a grin, finishing off Annika’s right hand and starting on the left. “Naw, it’s been about fifteen years, give or take. I started off painting my schoolmates in first grade. Lucky for you I’ve had lot’a practice since then.”

Annika couldn’t help a little laugh at the teasing answer, trying to imagine an infant giving manicures. The visual was quite amusing.

“How bout’chu? How long you been gettin’ manis?”

“I don’t really remember,” Annika said honestly. “Not until after I was married, though.”

“Yeah… Heard you got a lil roughed up last week. Can’t say I was real happy.”

Annika blushed yet again, knowing she still had some visible bruising, and she wasn’t sure what to say to that so she fell silent, training her eyes and her focus on the motion of the file back and forth.

***

When she did not find Annika in their cell upon returning to it, Kathryn immediately panicked. Georgia was nowhere in sight which just made her panic all the more, but she rationalized that she would have been informed if Annika had any visitors and she tried to calm down.

Forcing slow, full breaths, she left D block – she was allowed to go wherever she wanted now that she was Annika’s cell mate – and started asking around if anyone had seen either Annika or Georgia.

Finally she was directed to the salon and she nearly fainted with relief when she saw Annika relaxing in the manicurist’s chair. “Jesus fucking Christ,” she hissed, waiting until Angie paused and picked up the polishing brush before she rushed her friend and wrapped her arms around her from behind, kissing the top of her head. “Please never do that to me again,” she begged, her heart still beating overtime.

Annika blinked at the severity of the reaction and when she finally realized what Kathryn had thought, she let out a whoosh of air and turned her head to face the older woman. “Oh, no, I’m sorry,” she said, pressing her lips to Kathryn’s chin, which was all she could reach in their current positions. “I didn’t think about what would go through your head if I wasn’t there when you got back.”

Angie raised an eyebrow at the whole exchange. “So that’s where you been,” she said to Kathryn with a smirk. “We was all taking bets on whether you got solitary or early release.”

Kathryn took a few seconds to process that and then snorted out a little laugh. “How did you intend to figure out who won? If I’d gotten early release you’d never have known…”

“But if you ain’t showed back up in a couple weeks, we’d know you was gone. Nobody gets solitary for more than a couple weeks straight.”

“I see… so nobody wins,” Kathryn said with a smirk. “Pity.”

Angie flipped her the bird and went back to work on Annika’s nails. “Almost done, and then you two can have some alone time,” she deadpanned.

***

“I was worried,” Kathryn breathed when they were back in their cell, taking Annika’s face in her hands.

Annika rested her hands on Kathryn’s waist, careful even though the polish was probably dry, and looked into her friend’s eyes. “I was worried, too,” she whispered. “I started biting my nails. I needed something to distract me from wondering what horrible thing you’ve been sneaking off to partake in, and I’m used to having nice nails so getting a manicure seemed like the perfect way to distract myself and—” She stopped and took a breath. “I’m rambling because I’m nervous.”

Kathryn found the tirade adorable and brushed her thumbs back and forth across the blonde’s smooth cheeks. “Nervous about what?”

“Nervous about whatever you’re doing… whatever you’ve been doing and whatever you’re planning to do. But I don’t ask because I don’t want to be nosy,” Annika said, swallowing past the lump in her throat, her gaze cutting away from Kathryn’s.

“I’m sorry I called you nosy, honey,” Kathryn murmured, moving one thumb to brush across Annika’s bottom lip instead of her cheeks. “I was only teasing.”

“But you don’t want me to know what you’ve been doing,” Annika pointed out.

“I don’t want you to have anything to think about besides continuing to heal,” Kathryn hedged the implied question. “You’ve come a long way but you still have a bit of road left in front of you.”

“I think not knowing is worse than knowing,” Annika argued, eyes on the floor. “At least if you share, I’ll know what I’m worrying about. Right now my anxiety is through the roof and I have nothing to even attempt rationalizing the fear away.”

Kathryn debated capitulating and telling Annika what she was aiming to do, but they were interrupted by a grim-faced Georgia and her stomach dropped.

Annika froze at the look on Georgia’s face, her insides running cold. “No,” she breathed, shaking her head. “Please, no…”

“I’m sorry,” Georgia said, hoping with all her heart that Kathryn had been using those blueprints wisely.

Kathryn took Annika’s face again, her adrenaline starting to surge. “He won’t lay a finger on you. I swear it on everything I am.”

Annika was shaking, unable to make herself move.

“I might be in solitary for awhile after this, and I don’t want you setting your sights on some young thing that wanders by,” Kathryn purred, half teasing and half pumped with reckless endorphins. She pressed her lips to Annika’s, tongue slipping into the blonde’s mouth, laying claim in a gently possessive way and leaving Annika breathless when she pulled back. “So there’s something to think about in case I get popped.”

And she was gone. Leaving Annika standing there with her mouth open, pulse racing, face flushed and one hand outstretched as if to follow the older woman. Miraculously, Kathryn had just managed to make her think about something other than the hell her night was about to become.

***

Kathryn slipped into the laundry room and took the grate off of the vent behind one of the washing machines, crawling into it and replacing the grate in case anyone happened to look. She took a steadying breath and then moved as quickly and quietly as she could through the maze of ducts she’d memorized.

There were no cameras in the private visitation room; she knew Zharkov had made sure of that, so she would only be caught if he got off a scream and someone came in or if she left any prints or DNA. Although frankly she wasn’t sure anyone would get a CSU team out here to bother with a crime that half the population wanted to commit but didn’t have the balls.

When she reached the visitation room she peered through the grate, clocking Zharkov’s position in relation to everything – to herself, to the door, to the table and chairs he could potentially use as a weapon or as noise to call for help.

She waited until he was facing away from her and silently removed the grate, turning it diagonally to pull it inside the duct and leaning back to pass it across her body, setting it carefully behind her. That done, she moved much more quickly, crouching on the edge of the opening, and with one smooth leap she landed behind him.

He spun around at the noise and she threw an elbow into his windpipe, hoping to shatter it but settling for cutting off his ability to shout in the face of his sudden wheezes for breath. His eyes widened when he recognized her, one hand clutching his throat while the other formed a fist mid air and crashed against her left cheekbone. “Janeway,” he croaked, advancing forward as the blow knocked her on her ass.

Her vision danced for a minute but she was on her feet before he even took a step toward her. She took the opportunity of his surprise at her quick recovery to sweep his feet out from under him, flattening him to the concrete.

She knew she only had a few more minutes. She had to finish him off, as much as she would have liked to draw things out and torture him. “Zharkov,” she whispered, standing above him with a smirk. “I can still taste your wife on my lips…”

She licked her lips as she watched his eyes start to bulge, an unpleasant sort of laugh filtering out as she hauled him to a sitting position by his stupid tie, wrapped one arm around and grabbed his chin, putting her other hand on the back of his head, and before he could blink, she snapped his neck, the sickening crunch assaulting her ears as the bones split and splintered.

A bloodless crime scene was the least likely to leave any impressions of herself behind or she would have taken pleasure in cutting off some specific body parts. As it were, she took great satisfaction in his lifeless eyes, her own a vivid counterpoint full of heat and emotion. She turned and vaulted back up into the vent, replacing the grate just as she heard footsteps approaching, and she took off back the way she’d come.

***

As Georgia opened the door to the visitation room, Annika held her breath, frozen in place trying not to lose her bladder at the prospect of stepping through the doorway.

But as the door moved out of the way and she saw Nikolai lying on the floor she fell to her knees, a strangled sound forcing its way out, hope flaring in her chest despite how hard she tried not to let it. He could just be unconscious. She didn’t think so, not with the way his head was angled so awkwardly, but she couldn’t let herself be relieved until she was certain.

Georgia rushed forward, making sure to contaminate the scene as thoroughly as possible, dropping her keys and flashlight on the floor next to the body, leaning over to take a pulse, ruffling her bangs to let any loose hairs fall because she knew without a doubt who had done this, and she knew without a doubt that she would not let Kathryn go down for it. Not if she could help it.

Annika held her breath, waiting for confirmation. “Is he--?” she asked tightly.

“He’s dead,” Georgia confirmed. “Come over here and help me fuck up the crime scene.”

But she couldn’t move. The overwhelming sense of gratitude and relief and freedom that washed over her rendered her as immobile as her fear had done earlier and she sank down to sit against the wall, sobbing.

Georgia looked over in alarm. “Annika?”

She didn’t answer, she just curled into a ball and cried, letting out everything she’d kept inside over all these years. The only thing that stopped her from staying that way all night was the fact that Georgia’s words about fucking up the crime scene filtered through to her brain and she realized that somehow, Kathryn had done this for her (not that there should really have been any doubt, but her rational mind was on a break).

Still crying, she crawled over and dropped her face onto his chest, getting her tears all over his suit jacket and tie as Georgia finally called the incident in.

To anyone on the outside of things, Georgia looked like she was trying to save his life and Annika looked like quite the grieving widow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because FUCK YOU ZHARKOV!


	7. Chapter 7

Annika was still crying when she got back to her cell, half for show and half because the relief was still overwhelming. She had started her night thinking she was going to be brutalized repeatedly and now she would never even have to see him again. As soon as the cell door shut behind her she grabbed Kathryn by the collar and kissed her.

Kathryn blinked at the abrupt action but she certainly wasn’t complaining. When Annika pulled back she let a little smirk waver onto her lips and put her mouth to the blonde’s ear, whispering huskily into it. “If that’s your response to murder…”

Annika laughed out a sob and clung to Kathryn tighter, both arms going around the woman and squeezing for dear life.

“Don’t get too attached, I could go down for this,” Kathryn murmured quietly.

Annika pressed even closer, shaking her head. “Georgia and I tampered with the crime scene,” she murmured back. “Egregiously. We dropped footprints and fingerprints and DNA from my tears and her stray hairs.”

Kathryn didn’t want to get her hopes up but she loosely draped her arms around Annika and rested her hands on the blonde’s lower back. “We’ll see,” she whispered. “But even if it didn’t work and they figure it out, thank you for trying. All I care about is that he can’t hurt you ever again.”

“And you will never know the relief and gratitude I felt when Georgia confirmed he was dead,” Annika breathed. “I’ve never felt freedom like that in my life. Thank you. I cannot even adequately express my thoughts.”

“I think that kiss when you first saw me was more than adequate,” Kathryn teased. “I definitely feel thanked.”

“There are an unlimited number of those available with your name on them,” Annika replied. “You may also have unrestricted access between my thighs,” she added, her voice dropping.

Kathryn fought down a groan. “Does that include meal and yard times?”

Annika’s pulse quickened at the unexpected question. “It does…”

Kathryn was trying not to get too worked up. It would still be another few days at least before she would be comfortable testing her new boundaries. Annika was still a little sore. “It does?” she questioned, her voice almost like gravel. “I could put my hand down your pants in the middle of the mess hall and you’d be fine with it?”

Annika didn’t have to think hard about the answer. “Yes,” she panted softly.

“Mm… and the other things we discussed? Do I have unrestricted access to those in both private and public?”

“Other things?” Annika asked, wracking her brain and coming up blank for about one point five seconds before it hit her and she shuddered in Kathryn’s arms. “You mean tying me up and spanking me?”

“That is what I mean,” Kathryn purred.

“You want to spank me in the yard?” Annika wasn’t sure her brain could handle the idea. It was so foreign, but so hot.

“Mhmm,” Kathryn affirmed, rubbing her hands up and down Annika’s back. “And in our cell… and in the corridors… maybe the warden’s office…”

Annika laughed and kissed her again, softer this time. “I have no objections.”

“I hope you are prepared to be truly appreciated and treated like the goddess of a woman you are,” Kathryn said seriously after a few quiet moments.

Annika could feel the blush rising on her cheeks and she pressed her face into Kathryn’s neck. “I hope you are as well.”

“I will never take you for granted, never do anything to you that you don’t want, and I will never treat you like I own you.”

Annika’s blush heated up and she fumbled over her words before finally getting them out. “I wouldn’t mind the last one, just a little…”

Kathryn’s laugh started off slow and soft and worked up to tears in her eyes as she shook her head. “Oh, my dear, you are a treasure.” She pressed a kiss to Annika’s cheek and slowly pulled back. “Can I bring you some dinner?”

Annika raised an eyebrow, her blush starting to cool. “Georgia brings both of us dinner…”

“If you want me to act like I own you a little, a good first step is bringing my girl dinner, don’t you think?”

And the blush was back full force. “Oh,” she said, having nowhere to hide her face since they had broken apart a few feet. “I’d like that.”

***

There was an inquiry into Nikolai’s death, but they found nothing other than a strand of Georgia’s hair, unidentifiable smudged footprints and Annika’s DNA. Both Georgia and Annika had airtight alibis and no one really cared to pursue the issue further so the investigation was closed unsolved and everyone in the prison just appreciated the fact that they could breathe easier.

Annika woke up the morning after the investigation had been closed and shot to her feet in a panic. “Oh my God. Now that he’s not pulling strings, you don’t think they’ll take Solnyshko away, do you?” she almost shouted at Kathryn, who was reclined in bed reading.

“What? No,” Kathryn said, glancing at the sleeping cat in his little house. “I don’t think they would do that. You’ve had him here for five years. That would be… no, I don’t think they’ll do that.”

Annika opened his house and grabbed him out, much to his dismay, and squished him.

“Meow!” He batted at her face and pushed to get down, unhappy at being woken up so horribly.

Annika squished him for a few more seconds and put him back, locking up his house as he vigorously licked himself and laid back down in his bed, shooting her a glare and closing his eyes. She had tears in hers.

“Hey," Kathryn said, closing her book and setting it aside. “Come here.”

Annika crawled onto the bed and laid with her head in Kathryn’s lap, appreciating the hand that moved to stroke through her hair.

“I’m sure if anything was going to change, it would have already,” Kathryn soothed her. “And Georgia loves that cat. Ten to one she would take him in and smuggle him here for visits.”

Annika gave a little laugh at that and wrapped her arms around Kathryn’s waist. “I hope so. I love that boy…”

“You realize I just witnessed him scream at you, slap you in the face and kick you?” Kathryn teased.

Annika laughed harder and turned onto her back, staring up at Kathryn. “In his defense, I woke him up abruptly…”

“Is that how you behave if you’re woken abruptly?” Kathryn raised an eyebrow.

“Well, no…”

“I should hope not.”

That tone of voice gave Annika an excited shiver and she sat up slowly. “I would never behave that way to you,” she promised. “Let me go get washed up. Is it almost time for breakfast?”

“That it is.”

“Be right back.”

She disappeared into the bathroom and brushed her teeth and hair, washed her face, applied light makeup and returned to the bedroom.

Kathryn looked up when Annika returned and climbed off the bed, draping her arms around the blonde’s waist and kissing her. “You look lovely,” she complimented.

“Can I take you to breakfast, Madame?” Annika asked, gesturing toward the cell door.

“I’d be delighted.”

***

Kathryn managed to pull Georgia aside after breakfast for a quick conversation about the cat. The results were favorable and she kicked the cell door closed behind them when they returned. “Guess what I found out?”

Annika spun around and lifted an eyebrow. “What?”

“The warden has no intention of taking your cat, or anything else. It’ll be business as usual, just with less nerves all around.”

Annika’s eyes lit up. “Really? Is that what you were talking about with Georgia?”

“Mhmm.”

“God, that’s a load off. If there ever was a knight in shining armor…”

“Oh stop. I didn’t blackmail the warden. This was his decision, I’m just the messenger.”

“Stop? Don’t you think you should get some kind of reward for bringing me such good news?” Annika asked coyly.

“Did I say stop? I meant please continue.”

Lips descended on Kathryn’s neck, sucking and kissing their way up to her ear. “If you just put a little pressure on my shoulders it’d be easy to get me on my knees,” Annika husked.

“And you think that on your knees is a good way to show your appreciation?” Kathryn murmured.

“It’s the best way I can think of,” Annika returned, flicking the tip of her tongue out over Kathryn’s earlobe.

Kathryn shivered and gripped Annika’s waist with both hands. “As tempting as that offer is… we haven’t done this yet and I’m not about to mark down our first time as a repayment for delivering good news.” She slid one hand slowly up Annika’s side and over a shoulder to tangle in her hair.

“Mark down?” Annika teased. “You intend to keep a record?”

Kathryn gave a throaty chuckle as she squeezed a handful of hair and dropped her other hand to Annika’s backside with a light slap. “Now now,” she warned, shaking her head.

It was hardly a spank but it set Annika’s nerves on fire and her jaw fell slack, the amusement leaving her eyes in a flash, replaced by heat. “Do it again,” she coaxed. “Please.”

Kathryn breathed a little harder at the request, her amusement fading somewhat as well. She obliged her girl with another slap to the same spot, slightly more firm. The position they were in didn’t afford her the opportunity to reach very far.

Annika’s breath stuttered out and her eyelids fluttered. She gripped Kathryn’s waist to steady herself. “I—” But she didn’t know what she wanted to say.

Kathryn rubbed the blonde’s backside, unnecessary as it was, given how lightly she had tread. “You what? You learned your lesson?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t—what lesson was that exactly?” Annika asked, her speech halting.

“I believe it was a lesson about teasing me,” Kathryn filled her in.

“I don’t think I’ve learned anything yet,” the blonde whispered.

“Are you asking for more?” Kathryn couldn’t help the way she squeezed Annika’s hair as she asked the question.

“I think so,” Annika panted, closing her eyes at the squeeze.

“Let me know when you’re sure,” Kathryn breathed.

Annika waited, but when Kathryn waited as well she exhaled in a rush. “I’m asking for more.”

Kathryn propped her left foot up on the bed frame and turned Annika sideways. “Lean over my knee.”

Shaking a little with anticipation, Annika leaned forward a bit, pressing her belly against Kathryn’s thigh.

Kathryn smoothed her hands down Annika’s back and adjusted the blonde slightly. “What is it you want?” she asked, resting her right hand on Annika’s bottom.

Annika fought off a shudder and bit her lip, forcing an even breath before answering. “I want you to spank me.”

Kathryn popped her lightly on one cheek. “What happened to your manners?”

Annika’s heart was racing. “I want you to spank me, please,” she amended.

“That sounds much nicer, doesn’t it?” Kathryn popped her on the other cheek.

“It does,” Annika agreed breathlessly. The feel of standing there leaning over Kathryn’s knee, the feel of Kathryn’s hand on her ass, the feel of being with someone she was comfortable enough to express her desires to… she couldn’t even describe how amazing it was. In addition to feeling safe and cared for there was this heady rush making her dizzy and hot all over. And, of course, making her wet. That wasn’t something she was used to anymore.

“And now what do you want?” Kathryn asked, interrupting her reverie.

“I—I want you to spank me again, please.”

Kathryn gave her another mild pop. “Now?”

Annika realized what she was getting at. “I want you to spank me harder. Please.” Her pulse jumped hearing those words from her mouth.

Kathryn grinned and gave her what she wanted, slapping her sharply on the underside of each cheek, then rubbing in gentle circles while Annika gasped and got used to the sensation.

The sting echoed even when Kathryn started rubbing her backside and Annika knew she had made some kind of noise. She hoped Kathryn didn’t mistake it for a protest.

Kathryn kept rubbing with one hand and brought the other to Annika’s chin, gently turning the blonde’s face toward hers. She knew it wasn’t much of a spanking but she wanted to take it easy for Annika’s first time. “Report,” she requested.

“That’s a strange way to ask what I’m thinking,” Annika breathed.

“I was a cop,” Kathryn said with a shrug and a quirky little smirk. “Report.”

Two could play at that game. “All of my systems seem to be functioning optimally,” Annika replied with her own trace of a smirk.

Kathryn conceded the victory with a laugh and rested their foreheads together. “Well played. But honestly, honey, what are you thinking? Or feeling?”

“I like it,” Annika said simply. “I like the impact, I like the way it stings, I like the way the sting fades to a sort of glow… I like being able to talk to you about what I want. But I also want to know what you like; what you want.”

“We’ll get there,” Kathryn promised. “Right now all I want is to treat you the way you should have always been treated; to show you everything you’ve missed out on over the years.”

Of course that melted right through her and Annika couldn’t fight the goofy smile that insisted on showing itself. “I’d have to say you’re off to a good start.”


End file.
